Bingeing and the sleeve

[Roudoudou 4]

Hi, everyone! My name's Ann. I'm from Seattle, Washington and am brand-new here. I'd always thought I'd go the route of the band and never even considered the vertical sleeve until I read about people's poor experiences with the band and their decision to have a revision. So, now I'm leaning toward the sleeve.

Anyway, I struggle big-time with bingeing and am wondering how being sleeved will help this. I am working with a therapist on overcoming my bingeing behavior and she's recommended not getting surgery until I can go at least 6 months without a binge. This seems next to impossible right now, but I am working at changing my behavior as I really want to be successful.

My question: how likely are you to binge once you are sleeved? I understand the size of the stomach will be dramatically reduced, but is it possible to "push through" the discomfort and still binge? Will my cravings be too strong and I'll binge anyway? I'd really appreciate any thoughts/advice on this. I recognize it is a rather personal topic so please feel free to PM me if you'd like.

Thanks and I'm glad to be here!

Ann

[myrori 55]

Wow,,, I know I had binged in the past, not a regular habit though. As far as binging after,,, IMPOSSIBLE for me, there just is not room. When I was learning my new stomach I took just one bite too many a couple of times and the discomfort it caused followed by having to vomit made me learn my new full que really really fast and I have not gone there in weeks. Unless you can eat through extreme discomfort that makes it hard to breath or talk I just don't see how you can binge with the sleeve. Now I can see eating too often might be a way around it, like grazing every hour. I wanted the weight loss too much and did not have surgery to allow myself to graze.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

I agree with Myrori - it's not an easy task to binge. It's not so easy to continue once you hit your wall. In fact, I'd even say it's impossible because I'm pretty sure if I was even given an inch, I'd take a mile.

However yes, grazing is something you'll really need to look out for. Sometimes when I'm falling back into bad habits its usually done in the form of grazing. I have to snap out of it quick and behave!!

[sleeveorbust 11]

Grazing is the only way around cheating your sleeve and Im sure that's not your intention... I find binging absolutely IMPOSSIBLE!!!

[Lila21 36]

I agree. I know personally, that if I try to eat just a little bit over what my stomach can handle, it causes me to vomit. This has happened to me twice and was very unpleasant. The danger of bingeing is not that you will succeed but that you might try, and early out this could really cause you some problems with damage from vomiting (especially in the first couple of weeks, this could be life-threatening). I think it is a good idea to get your binges under control before surgery because if you binge and then vomit, you could put yourself in real danger. I think you are definitely on the right track, and the sleeve can really help you to get and stay there. You are at the beginning of a really positive journey!!!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

It depends on what you binge on actually.I can eat an awful lot of Cookies, nuts and chips. Crunchy dry things seem to go right down my sleeve.

Dense Protein -chicken , steak or any kind of beef, that's another story.

You will develop new eating habits while you are on the post op diet., eating soft foods or being on the liquid diet. You get full very fast the first few months or even up to a year.

That does not last forever though, so I think you're smart to see a therapist about this. You can binge if that is really want to do.

[chicagoanthony 1]

Well, its not physically possible to binge eat with a sleeve. Thats assuming you dont like vomiting. The strong desires for food will be gone due to the fact that the part of your stomach that controls the hormone releases indicating hunger have been removed. If food is your comfort for something that you are emotionally making up for, not to be harsh but definitely consider meeting with someone who can help you address those issues. I say this, not to be rude or condescending but, statistics show that people who undergo WLS and arnt emotionally stable tend to run into major issues emotionally. No harm in putting first things first.

[Roudoudou 4]

Thank you very much for the responses thus far! And please keep them coming; all the feedback is really helpful.

I'm so glad to have found this forum! I'm very excited about the prospect of surgery but my own issues with food are definitely still there and I want to work on those BEFORE I have surgery. It's good to know that having the sleeve might really help with my binges. Now just to get my own head around them.

Thanks again!

[Susanne 32]

The problem is that you binge for a reason and you have to get rid of the reason for binging.

I am surprised people say you cannot binge anymore. you most certainly can!!! The desire for binging has NOTHING to do with Ghrelin. Binging is not triggered by hunger but by other things.

The sleeve may prevent you from shoving copious amounts of dense, solid food into your mouth, but it won't prevent you from binging on milk shakes, chips, Cookies, chocolates, softer cakes, cornbread, ice cream, soda, cocktails etc. so yeah - I believe the counseling is a must to resolve or recognize the issue.

We are often wondering how people can have the sleeve and not lose weight or gain it all back (I think I read a topic like that earlier here) and I believe it is those unsolved binge triggers that will come right back and are NOT eliminated through surgery. Don't get me wrong, people are trying to be supportive and nice - but in the end, if you want to binge after surgery, you can certainly do that with a lot of foods!

[k8bwalsh 1]

Yes - I think it certainly is possible to still binge. It all depends what you are binging on. I had surgery 21 days ago, and have already discovered that cheez-its and m&m's go in just fine.... could eat them all day long. However, mashed potatoes - NO WAY!!! Hard to get a 1/2 cup in me over the course of a half hour. Can't fathom eating a burger yet - well, I'm supposed to be on pureed foods anyway, so.... Hope your therapist can help you get in under control. Good Luck!!

[Tiffykins 673]

Every word here is correct, 100% hitting the nail on the head. I can literally eat shitpots of chips, sorbet, Cookies, junk food, and there is no restriction. All of these foods slide right on through so if you want to binge, you'll find a food that you can binge on, and you'll eat until you are done binging mentally. Until you resolve the eating disorder, the sleeve is only going to do so much for you.

I honestly do not believe surgery is the answer in the least, and you will only be more miserable.

The problem is that you binge for a reason and you have to get rid of the reason for binging.

I am surprised people say you cannot binge anymore. you most certainly can!!! The desire for binging has NOTHING to do with Ghrelin. Binging is not triggered by hunger but by other things.

The sleeve may prevent you from shoving copious amounts of dense, solid food into your mouth, but it won't prevent you from binging on milk shakes, chips, Cookies, chocolates, softer cakes, cornbread, ice cream, soda, cocktails etc. so yeah - I believe the counseling is a must to resolve or recognize the issue.

We are often wondering how people can have the sleeve and not lose weight or gain it all back (I think I read a topic like that earlier here) and I believe it is those unsolved binge triggers that will come right back and are NOT eliminated through surgery. Don't get me wrong, people are trying to be supportive and nice - but in the end, if you want to binge after surgery, you can certainly do that with a lot of foods!

[Roudoudou 4]

Hi, again, everyone. Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that the sleeve would be a magic bullet and that I wouldn't have to worry about bingeing anymore. I fully intend to work on that before I get surgery. But I also know that I'm fallible, and if I do have the urge to binge after surgery, I wanted to know the likelihood of that even being possible.

Thanks again for the responses!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Hi, again, everyone. Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that the sleeve would be a magic bullet and that I wouldn't have to worry about bingeing anymore. I fully intend to work on that before I get surgery. But I also know that I'm fallible, and if I do have the urge to binge after surgery, I wanted to know the likelihood of that even being possible.

Thanks again for the responses!

No worries, I now anyone is fallible. If not, I would NOT be here today on this sleeve website for support! I'd be off living a happy skinny life without the need for surgical intervention. It is a daily struggle though.

Anyway, I guess I'm abnormal (which I already knew I was) in that I DO get full off what is considered slider foods. Not only that it actually makes me feel physically ill. Don't take it that it will be the same for you because it probably won't. I'm like, very one of a kind in that.

Good luck to you!!!

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Oh man. I was a hardcore binger pre-surgery - and since then, I've had thoughts of binging maybe 2 or 3 times. I read this book, "Overcoming Binge Eating Disorder" - forgot the author, but look it up on Amazon or at the library. It gives you a pretty good plan to work on your binging before your surgery date, and also provides a lot of information about what triggers binging. The main trigger is actually hunger! With reduced hunger after the sleeve, you'll have way fewer binge urges and will be able to control them better, because you can isolate the mental urge from the physical hunger.